The Utah office of the Bureau of Land Management has asked for more data before deciding whether to approve a proposal to drill for oil in San Juan County's Lockhart Basin.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which opposes the well, described the decision on its appeal as a reversal and remand of an earlier finding that found the proposal will not cause significant environmental impacts."The remand from the state office gives local BLM officials the chance to start over and do the right thing," said Kevin Walker, a spokesman for SUWA.
But Kent Walter, manager of the BLM's San Juan Resource Area, said the state office didn't reverse his decision but requested more documentation backing up the environmental assessment on the proposal.
"We have the information; we just didn't want the document to be more voluminous than it had to be," Walter said.
He said his superiors in Salt Lake City particularly want more data supporting drilling restrictions intended to protect bighorn sheep and on alternatives considered.
San Juan County officials also appealed the local BLM's decision, calling it too restrictive.
"The county thought we went too far, and environmentalists thought we didn't go far enough," Walter said.
Lockhart Basin is a scenic desert area about six miles east of Canyonlands National Park and 18 miles southwest of Moab.
Environmentalists contend the well will disrupt scenic views and scar land that should be included in an enlarged Canyonlands National Park. A press release from SUWA said the state's decision validates the environmentalist group's contention that the assessment was inadequate. SUWA noted that public comments received by the BLM overwhelmingly opposed oil exploration in the basin.
Walter agreed. But he said the issue wasn't whether to drill but how. Denver-based Legacy Energy Corp. has an oil and gas lease that Walter said the BLM must honor.
"The comments just said they don't like drilling and didn't offer any alternatives," Walter said.
But SUWA contends the law gives the BLM the option to suspend leases to protect the "health and safety of the environment."
Walter said his team will meet sometime next week to gather up the requested data, and a final decision on the Lockhart Basin proposal could be completed in a month.